was gone.
Elowen watched with unbelieving eyes as Marrec called forth the sea of hovering darkness. When the void consumed Eschar, she was mollified, but then she realized that the Queen Abiding must be a far more potent force even than the horned demon to have eliminated Eschar so casually. Elowen gripped Dymondheart’s hilt, determined to fight to the last, if that’s what was required.
The cleric was gazing up at the roiling bottom of the darkness that shrouded the cavern’s upper reaches. He was talking. What was Marrec thinking?
Marrec said, “I have set you loose from your confinement, yet I require your service. By the token which last I grasped, aid me on my quest. I must face the Rotting Man. You must help me.”
Ususi yelled, “Don’t bargain with her!”
The darkness roiled then stilled. Another strand reached from the lowering belly of the Queen Abiding. The black tendril probed the ground near where Victoricus had melted. Where the black wisp probed, dark liquid was drawn out of the ground, freezing as it did so. In no time, their demonic aide was reconstituted.
“Victoricus will lead you to the child you lost,” spoke the Queen Abiding, as unperturbed as ever. “I sense she is moving toward the surface.”
Elowen studied Victoricus, who tittered. The demon didn’t seem particularly uncomfortable at its destruction and subsequent restoration.
Marrec pressed, “That is a good start, but listen…” The cleric licked his lips. Elowen knew then that the cleric was exceedingly nervous. “I held the token. I asked for your service. I would like your direct aid against the Talontyr himself.”
The Queen Abiding responded instantly, “Don’t press your hold over me, human. It is tenuous. Oh, so fragile…” A tendril of darkness dropped and caressed Marrec’s face.
“I help you because I have scores to settle. The way I see it, you are my agent against those who have done me wrong. Look, I’m free, and Eschar’s essence slowly digests within me. You have been useful.”
The queen continued, “Yet I also have a score to settle with the Rotting Man. The pain he visited upon me when he briefly held my token, ignorant even of its power, is something that must be repaid, and here you are, all set to go against him.”
Marrec nodded, said, “You’ll help us?”
“One last time may you call on my aid. If you survive these mazes of ancient betrayal, you may yet come to the court of the Talontyr. That’s when I will come to you, should you ask.”
“After that, our arrangement is ended. If you dare to ask of me any other service, I shall enjoy supping upon your soul as, even now, I suck the verve from Eschar’s fiery spirit.”
Marrec nodded, somewhat shakily, Elowen thought.
The darkness faded over the space of a few seconds, replaced by the natural lightlessness of the upper reaches of the cavern.
Marrec sat down. Elowen moved toward him, but Gunggari and Ususi were before her.
“You’ve imperiled your soul,” said Ususi, “and probably ours, too, with your foolish stunt. A creature of such evil doesn’t know gratitude or the value of teamwork. It knows only its hungers and its vengeances.”
“I held the token of control,” Marrec defended himself.
“What exactly was the token?” demanded Ususi. “I certainly don’t know what its properties were or how much protection it provides to she who would dare to use it. The Nar relied on such devices, but no knowledge of their true nature or the manner of their construction has survived to the present day.”
More weakly, “It seemed to work well enough. Eschar is defeated. We’re alive.”
“For the moment,” huffed Ususi.
“And we have a guide,” said Gunggari, defending his friend. The Oslander motioned with his head toward the reconstituted Victoricus.
Elowen wondered why Marrec didn’t stand to his own defense. Perhaps he was uncertain about what he had done. Certainly she herself had her doubts. All the same, she laid a restraining hand on Ususi, who seemed about to continue her tirade. Elowen said, “That’s right. Let’s go find Ash and the traitor.”
“Aren’t you listening at all to what I’m telling you?” asked Ususi. “We can’t trust the queen or any proxy in her service.” She waved a dismissive hand at the ice demon.
Marrec levered himself upright with the shaft of his spear. He looked at Ususi, to Victoricus, and back. He said, “All right, I’ve been foolish. It was a risk to command the Queen Abiding, but risks must be taken, sometimes, if goals are to be achieved. If, as you say, the Queen Abiding cares only for her hungers, then after all the token must have had some effect over her. If not, wouldn’t we all be but drained husks when she descended upon us?”
“Perhaps,” acceded Ususi, “but don’t call her again. Maybe that’s all the additional incentive she needs to return and do exactly what you describe so mockingly.”
Marrec said, “I will not call her unless we’re likely to die anyway. I am acquainted with such choices when it comes to marshalling potent but dangerous forces.” He rubbed his eyes as he said that last, then continued, “So what about Victoricus? Should we go on without him?”
Elowen answered. “No. I think we must put our faith in the efficacy of the token, for as Marrec says, we all yet live. It’ll take too long to retrace Fallon’s path back to where we lost it. If the ice demon can get us closer, then we should follow it.”
Gunggari stated, “If we get close enough, I can pick up Fallon’s trail again quite easily. I’ll know if the demon is leading us too far from where we want to go.”
“Just how will you know that?” Ususi challenged the Oslander.
Gunggari merely smiled. Ususi threw up her hands, shook her head, and sighed in exasperation. “Fine, fine, ignore the advice of your sage. You’ll be asking my forgiveness in the seconds before this deal with the queen goes sour, but I need rest. The edges of my spells are frayed and uncertain. I must straighten them in my mind if I can be of any further use. Let us take a moment before you rush us into whatever trap the queen has concocted.”
Gunggari said, “All of us could use the rest, Marrec.”
Elowen thought that several hours’ rest sounded heavenly. Since they’d descended into the dark, they had faced a series of terrible threats. Though they’d all survived so far, their luck was bound to fail if they didn’t steal a few moments of recuperation from the never-ending rush of time.
“Then let’s rest,” agreed Marrec, not without some relief in his voice.
They were undisturbed for the length of their rest, measuring at least six hours. Elowen, not requiring sleep, stood watch. When all had regained some measure of their full strength, Marrec addressed the demon.
“Victoricus. Lead us to our friend Ash, also called the Child of Light, and who is also an aspect of Lurue.”
With nary a titter, the ice demon swiveled and skated away across the vault field. Ash’s would-be rescuers followed.
Marrec followed the smoothly moving demon most closely. At first, he walked alone, as they backtracked through the Sighing Vault, and tunnels somewhat familiar. After they turned into a passage completely unfamiliar, Marrec asked Victoricus to slow down. Despite his words to Ususi, he of course couldn’t trust the demon, or the demon’s real master, the Queen Abiding.
On the other hand, Ususi hadn’t held the token of control. She hadn’t felt the power that had briefly coursed through his hands when he’d made his initial demand to the Queen Abiding. Marrec wasn’t unfamiliar with items of potency. In the token’s destruction, he’d felt a call go out, and in responding to that call, the queen had accepted a binding. She would be good to the letter of her word. She had no choice, Marrec felt certain. Pretty much certain.
He could explain his feelings about the token of control to the wizard, or at least, he could try, but Ususi was certain of her own learning, her own experience. After all, wasn’t that experience valid? He’d rather not try to explain to the wizard why he was right, only to have Victoricus lead them directly into a vat of acid or some other unpleasantness. Marrec hated eating his own words, especially if fighting off a demonic double-cross at the same time.
Victoricus led them past several chambers, all open to the hallway. A faded chanting spilled from these openings. Marrec couldn’t understand the words. He didn’t try. By the timbre of the sound, it was obvious the voices were not made by any creature with which he was familiar.
